In a revealing interview with Haute Living, Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler gets candid on Aerosmith's past, his sobriety, and his charity, Janie’s Fund. An excerpt follows...

The battle with drugs that Tyler and the rest of the band faced was well-documented during their career.

“Aerosmith made it from ’72 to ’79 not necessarily stoned, but beautiful… then we all became very f***ed up,” he says. “There were no such things as rehabs; there were mental institutions. I went away in ’84 and ’86, and I didn’t really get it. The early ’80s were terrible, and drugs took us down. I was the first one to get treatment. There was a moment in ’88 where management and the band pulled an intervention on me. They thought, ‘Get the lead singer sober, and all our problems would be over.’ So, I got sober, and you know it took me many years to get over the anger of them sending me to rehab while they went on vacation.

"But today, because of that moment… I am grateful and owe a thanks to them for my sobriety,” he adds. “I met my ex-wife Theresa, and I had two more beautiful children. The band hired a new company, Geffen Records, and a great A&R man named John Kalodner. We all had a manager that helped us fight that battle together. You may never have done cocaine or heroin, but you hear it, and you go, ‘Woah, you were a heroin addict?’ And I would say, ‘Yeah, but that’s nothing compared to when a band writes their own songs and plays them and hears them back in a recording studio on these speakers that are bigger than life. Then, you are on the radio… there is no drug stronger than music. My sobriety cost me nothing less than everything.”

Read the complete interview, and view some incredible new photos by Brian Bowen Smith, at Haute Living.

Aerosmith recently announced dates for their 2020 European tour, beginning on Saturday, June 13 in Milan, Italy at the iDays Festival before continuing on throughout the rest of Europe, stopping at various countries including, Switzerland, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Poland, UK, Hungary, Denmark, before concluding in Germany on July 27.  

Tickets are on sale here.

The one and only Aerosmith, Steven Tyler (vocals), Joe Perry (lead guitar), Brad Whitford (guitar), Tom Hamilton (bass), and Joey Kramer (drums) are a living piece of American music history, having sold more than 150 million albums worldwide, countless awards and been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, there’s not much that this band haven’t accomplished in their five decades since forming.

They are the recipients of endless awards, including four Grammys, eight American Music Awards, six Billboard Awards, and 12 MTV Video Music Awards, as well as crossing all genre boundaries taking home a Soul Train Award for Best Rap Single for their remix of Run DMC's "Walk This Way." In January, Aerosmith will be honored by the Recording Academy with the 2020 MusiCares Person Of The Year. Along with scores of multiplatinum albums, Aerosmith continues to inspire generations till this day making them one of the most beloved bands of all time!

In 2020, the legacy continues as Aerosmith celebrates the 50th anniversary of their formation by playing a string of European shows across the whole European continent taking them from Italy to Germany. This monumental 50th anniversary European Tour will come off the heels of Aerosmith’s wildly popular Las Vegas residency, Aerosmith: Deuces Are Wild, which kicked off April 6, 2019 and currently continues through June 4, 2020. The over 50-date residency at the Park MGM has already earned the group a #1 spot on Billboard’s Boxscore Chart and #2 on the Hot Tours Chart.

European dates:

June
13 - Milan, Italy - iDays
16 - Zurich, Switzerland - Hallenstadion
21 - Dessel, Belgium - Graspop Metal Meeting
24 - Prague, Czech Republic - O2 Arena
30 - Paris, France - Accorhotels Arena

July
3 - Madrid, Spain - Wanda Stadium
6 - Lisbon, Portugal Altice Arena
9 - Vienna, Austria - Stadthalle
12 - Krakow, Poland - Tauron Arena
15 - London, UK - The O2
18 - Manchester, UK - Manchester Arena
21 - Middelfart, Denmark - Rock Under Broen Pladsen
24 - Budapest, Hungary - Puskas Stadium
27 - Mönchengladbach, Germany - Sparkassenpark